Also, Sunday is Bloggerstock and Halloween! So naturally, Bloggerstock's theme is Halloween related! So be prepared to read a bunch of scary stories.
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30 Days of Truth: A Band or Artist that has gotten you through some tough times (write a letter).
Luckily, I'm good at writing fake letters that may or may not get read by their intended audience. Here goes:
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Dear Scooter Ward, Sam McCandles, other members of Cold and rotating members of Cold,
Cold was the first rock/grunge band I had heard since Nirvana. And to be honest, I never really cared for Nirvana like most other people did, and Kurt Cobain was not my hero. I first heard your Year of the Spider album in my brother's mini van on my way to school. And thought to myself ... I can see myself listening to this on my own. But I never really did.
Then one day, out of nowhere. I got side swiped by teenage angst. I hated everything, everyone, I hated the sun, the moon, and XYZ. Except music. I went to my first official concert when I was sixteen. My brother had tickets to your concert at the Metro, here in Chicago on May 25, 2003.
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| Ticket stub from my first Cold concert in 2003. It's also autographed by Scooter Ward. |
I remember going into the venue not knowing what to expect. It was my first rock show and had no idea what would happen. My brother, Frank, did not want me to be in the ground level, because he thought that with all the people moshing and jumping around that I would get trampled. I remember only knowing the songs from Year of the Spider and one or two from Thirteen Ways to Bleed on Stage. I remember feeling accomplished because I called your bluff... you began playing the intro to Stupid Girl ... but then went into Goodbye Cruel World.
After the concert, Scooter and all the other band members were outside. Frank and I went over to Scooter and told Scooter it was my first show. Scooter wrapped his arms around me. And immediately knew that you guys cared about your fans. I felt like a little kid after the hug, I told Frank, Did you see that?! He hugged me! He hugged me! And for some reason, I started crying.
It wasn't until I was in college that your songs meant much more to me. After my first semester of sophomore year, I was required to withdraw, basically, I was sucking at school, and I had to take time off to reevaluate whether I wanted to be a student at that school or not. When I told my dad, he went apeshit. He made me feel like I wasn't trying, when I was. I really was. He made it seem like I was taking school as a joke, which again, I wasn't.
The whole year I took off from expensive college, everything bad that could happen, happened. My grandmother got sick and had to have an operation, I lost friends, etc, etc. It was not a fun time for me. At all.
I started hanging out with my brother again, because he was one of the few people who didn't make me feel like a failure. He was the only one who knew how hard it really was for me being three hours away from home, not being able to come home all the time like some of my friends could, not making the grades, not being able to stay on top of everything like I used to.
We were in the car one day going to the mall, I decided to listen to Cold. And the song Wasted Years came on. I immediately started to cry. This song, could pretty much explain how I went from the depressed mess I was to the slightly less sad/mad at the world/myself person I am now. The lines from the chorus that really spoke to me were:
It's not hard to fail, It's not easy to win
These lines, I felt, were exactly how I was feeling. Exactly how everyone around me was making me feel. It wasn't easy to get a C in that class... it wasn't hard to not go to class when it was 40 below 0, and you lived off campus. It wasn't easy being the person everyone always knew... but it wasn't hard to become the person they were making you feel that you were. I ended up getting those lines tattooed, because it's a reminder to me that I can do things I want to do, that I can accomplish things I set my mind to, although there are others that make me feel like I can't.
I have never felt this way when hearing any other band. Even while writing this, I get a little emotional. I took out all my Cold cd's, my autographed poster from a concert you guys had in Champaign, IL that I wasn't able to attend, but I got a phone call from Frank and talked to you guys for a while and could only remember one of the members of the band saying "hope you can make it next time". Sadly, I haven't been able to attend any of your recent shows. All the shows in Chicago, or even in the rest of Illinois or the ones close by in Indiana and Wisconsin have been impossible for me to get to. Then there was one you did in Appleton, WI ... and I wanted to go so bad. I was in Appleton too. But the show was the day before I was to go up to Appleton.
Cold will always be one of my favorite bands. Whether you guys are touring and making new music or if you guys decide that making music is no longer for you. Cold has gotten me through the hardest times in my life. And I am forever indebted.
Sincerely,
Lily A.
Thirty Days of Truth
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